Deficit, Difference, or Both? Autism and Neurodiversity

The neurodiversity movement challenges the medical model's interest in causation and cure, celebrating autism as an inseparable aspect of identity. Using an online survey, we examined the perceived opposition between the medical model and the neurodiversity movement by assessing conceptions of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Developmental psychology 2013-01, Vol.49 (1), p.59-71
Main Authors: Kapp, Steven K., Gillespie-Lynch, Kristen, Sherman, Lauren E., Hutman, Ted
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation to change
Adjustment
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Autism
Autism Spectrum Disorders
Autistic Disorder - complications
Autistic Disorder - psychology
Autistic people
Awareness
Child
Child Rearing
Cultural Diversity
Cure
Developmental psychology
Emotions
Female
Health Attitudes
Human
Humans
Identification (Psychology)
Identity
Male
Medical models
Medicine
Middle Aged
Neurodiversity
Neurological Impairments
Neurological Organization
Neurology
Online Surveys
Online Systems
Parenting
Parenting - psychology
Parenting Styles
Predictive Value of Tests
Self Report
Self-Concept
Symptoms (Individual Disorders)
Young Adult
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Summary:The neurodiversity movement challenges the medical model's interest in causation and cure, celebrating autism as an inseparable aspect of identity. Using an online survey, we examined the perceived opposition between the medical model and the neurodiversity movement by assessing conceptions of autism and neurodiversity among people with different relations to autism. Participants (N = 657) included autistic people, relatives and friends of autistic people, and people with no specified relation to autism. Self-identification as autistic and neurodiversity awareness were associated with viewing autism as a positive identity that needs no cure, suggesting core differences between the medical model and the neurodiversity movement. Nevertheless, results suggested substantial overlap between these approaches to autism. Recognition of the negative aspects of autism and endorsement of parenting practices that celebrate and ameliorate but do not eliminate autism did not differ based on relation to autism or awareness of neurodiversity. These findings suggest a deficit-as-difference conception of autism wherein neurological conditions may represent equally valid pathways within human diversity. Potential areas of common ground in research and practice regarding autism are discussed.
ISSN:0012-1649
1939-0599
DOI:10.1037/a0028353